Valentine's Day
by Celeste Song
Summary: Erik takes his partner Natale out for Valentine's day. Though, he has something bigger planned than just dinner. One shot. Erik x OC.


**I'M LATE! DANG IT! UGH! I'm sorry, Nata. But I'm technically not late in my timezone. You are probably asleep right now. Ugh.**

**HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!**

**I do not own Erik. He belongs to Marvel... x-men is Marvel right? (Everyone fangirl in the world: *takes out shotgun and shoots me*)**

**ENJOY!**

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It was a rather ordinary day. The city was going about it's normal routine. Taxi drivers were rude, everyone was in a hurry, and there was at least three older ladies sitting in the park feeding the pigeons.

"You annoying thing!"

Yup. An ordinary day.

It was Friday which meant her boyfriend was working, and she had the day to herself. So, she decided that it would be a great time to do that task her mother asked her to do. Even though Natale was considered an outcast by many, her mother always loved her no matter what obstacles got in between them. Her boyfriend respected the love Natale had for her mother, even if her mother was a regular human.

"No! Why do you have to be missing a part?" Natale yelled at the doll in her hand. Her mother had given her a task of cleaning this porcelain doll that belonged to Natale's great grandmother. The doll was very special and had been passed down through the generations. She took great care cleaning the doll. To clean it properly, she needed to take it apart to a point. She had all of the parts, the dresses, and the box that came with the doll. She had a few things with her that she was using to clean the dust and dirt from the doll. So, no matter the frustration that she didn't know she would go through, she was determined to clean this doll.

"You have so much dirt on you. You look like you're Mexican or something."

That was one of Natale's... let's call them quirks. Most of the things that come from her mouth don't have too much thought put into them. Though if she is trying to make a point, she is very careful with her words.

Another one of Natale's quirks was that if she was concentrating on something (like cleaning a very old and breakable doll), she tunes everything else out. With that being said, the door to her apartment opened. A rather attractive man stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He called into the apartment, "Natale?" With no response, he took his shoes off and tossed his coat over the arm of the sofa. He knew she was home. He figured she was too engrossed into a book to respond to him. He walked down the small hallway and stopped in front of the bedroom. Once he looked inside, he froze. The sight in front of him was one he wouldn't imagine seeing in a hundred years. "Natale?"

With his voice reaching her ears, Natale looked up and acknowledged him. "Oh, Erik. You're home early." She took notice of his demeanor, but was oblivious to the scene that he was looking at. "What's wrong?"

Erik scratched the back of his head and thought of how to describe what he saw. "Well," he started out, "I wasn't expecting to come home to see you holding a doll's head in your hand and a toothbrush in the other. You definitely caught me off guard with that. Plus, the shirt you are wearing doesn't help the picture."

Natale remembered that she was wearing a shirt that had a skull on the front of it. She looked at the doll's head that she held and started laughing. "I guess that would look a little strange."

Erik regained his composure and walked into the room, careful not to step on anything important. "What is all of this?" He asked, sitting himself down next to her after moving anything in the way.

Natale continued cleaning the doll's head while explaining. "This was my great grandmother's doll. It was passed down to my grandmother, then to my mother, and now to me. It has seen lots of love in it's many years of living. Though, it hasn't been out of it's box since 1993." She finished cleaning the doll's head after a good while of scrubbing it. She grabbed the other parts of the doll and started to put it back together. "My mom found it recently and asked me to clean it."

Erik nodded. "How is your mom?" He asked.

"She's good." Natale took the different pieces and pieced it together. She had yarn with her to fix any broken strings. With what she had, she did her best to put the doll back together. "The dresses used to be white. They have faded over time." She made observations out loud. Then she started humming the tune to "When Somebody Loved Me." that Jessie sang in Toy Story 2.

Erik watched quietly. He was always fascinated by the things Natale did. She was quite the craftsman when she wanted to be. It was one of the reasons he liked her. That and she shared the same views as he did. Once the doll was all put back together and everything was cleaned up, he came up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Hey, let's go out tonight."

Natale placed the box that held the doll in the safest and farther place from her room. "What's the occasion?" She asked.

"Valentine's Day."

Oh, right. She had forgotten about that. Normally, she wouldn't be interested in that day since she didn't like rejecting guys, but since she didn't have to worry about it this year, she decided that she might enjoy herself. "Where are you taking me?" She turned around to face him.

"Somewhere special." He smiled handsomely at her and took her hands in his, kissing the back of one of them. "Wear something nice, and wear your heels."

"Why heels?"

He pecked her lips and went to grab his coat. "Heels are harder for a girl to run away in."

She rolled her eyes. "Where are you going?" She questioned.

"I am going out for a bit. Need to do a few things before tonight. I'll be back in time to take you out." He smiled and walked out the door after putting his shoes on.

Natale pouted, but decided to start picking out the outfit she would wear tonight.

A few hours went by and the daylight began to dim. Natale finished getting ready and stood in front of the mirror to check herself out. Her dress was a simple solid red dress with a small belt around the midsection. She curled her red hair at the ends and took some of it, braiding it then wrapping it over her head making a crown or headband. She had simple makeup that complimented her features and blue eyes, and wore her simple black heels.

Natale smiled at herself in the mirror and walked out of the bathroom. Her heels clicked on the floor as she walked around her apartment, gathering necessary items. While she was walking around, the front door opened again, and Erik came in. "About time you got back. You have been gone for a long time." Natale commented.

Erik threw his coat over the sofa arm again and went to kiss Natale's cheek. "I had to get some things ready. I'll be ready in a second." He smiled and walked into the bedroom.

Natale's stomach started to rumble a bit. She crossed her arms and sat on the sofa, waiting for her date to get ready. She flipped on the tv and watched whatever came on. It happened to be an episode of Dexter that she has already seen. She was content to watch this while waiting, but another quirk comes into play. Natale can't sit still while watching a show. Her hands must be messy with something. So, she took a coin that was laying on the table and started messing with it. She pressed it in her palm and reshaped the coin into a ball. I guess now would be a good time to tell you that Natale is a mutant as well as Erik. Her ability is to reshape matter. Though it comes with limits. She can't create matter or change it's genetic structure, but she can change the shape.

After a few minutes, Erik came into the living room and finished put his suit jacket on. He was dressed pretty nicely, but still casual. His top button on his dress shirt was undone, he wore a pair of black jeans, and finished with a suit jacket. He also had a rose pinned to his jacket to give the full Valentine's day feel. "Ready to go?" He asked to get her attention.

Natale looked up at him and nodded. She turned the tv off, reshaped the metal into the coin it originally was, and stood up. Erik retrieved her coat from the closet and helped her put it on. He then opened the door and let her walk out before locking the apartment behind them.

"Here we are." The waiter escorted the two of them to their reserved table. Erik pulled the chair out for Natale. She sat down then he went to the opposite side of the table for two. "Your waiter will be with you shortly." The man said then walked back to the front desk.

Natale and Erik looked at their menus and silently decided what they wanted to eat. Erik kept glancing at Natale and then at the rest of the restaurant. "What has you all jumpy?" Natale asked while scanning the menu.

Erik raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Natale closed her menu and set it to the side. "Well, since we have arrived here, you have been looking around constantly. You act like we are going to be attacked." She joked around although it was possible considering their reputation.

Erik tried to be sly by denying the fact that he has been a bit jumpy. "I'm just enjoying a night out with the woman I love." He reached across the table and took Natale's hand then brought it to his lips.

Natale knew he was up to something, but decided to ignore it for now. "Uh huh..."

Their waiter finally arrived and took their food and drink orders. Even though Erik was still a bit restless, the dinner was nice and the food was excellent. They shared some champagne, and Erik ordered a specially made slice of carrot cake for her. Once Natale heard "carrot cake," nothing else mattered.

Erik chuckled as he watched Natale enjoy her cake. Natale heard his chuckle and looked up at him with an innocent expression. "What?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

_Now I know how Celeste feels when I say that to her._ Natale thought to herself. "You are chuckling which means it has to be something. One way or another, I will get it out of you so it's better if you just tell me now using your own free will." She another bite of the bit of carrot cake that remained.

Erik took his glass of champagne and swirled it around before he started explaining what was going through his mind. "I was thinking about how unique you are," he began, gaining him a strange look from Natale, "There is no one else in this world that is like you, and if I ever found someone who was, I would be scared." He laughed. Natale rolled her eyes and finished her cake. "Finished?"

"Yeah. I'm stuffed." She leaned back and patted her still slim stomach. "That cake was gooood." She smiled happily.

Erik smiled and stood up. He already paid the bill a while ago so they could leave when they were ready. He walked over and pulled Natale's chair out. "Man, you've gained like ten pounds from that cake. The chair wasn't this difficult to move before we ate." He teased her a bit. Natale stood up and punched his arm. She knew that even her hardest punch probably wouldn't hurt him, but it still made her feel better. Erik helped put her coat on then lead her to the door. He walked her to the car and opened the door for her to climb in. He then went to the driver's side and got in. "I want to take you one last place before the night is finished."

"Where?" Natale questioned.

"You'll see."

Erik started the car and drove them out of the parking lot. Natale kept her eyes on the road, trying to guess where they were going, but they were heading to a part of the city where she hasn't ventured before. "Are you kidnapping me?" She asked in a joking manner.

"Why do you think I told you to wear heels?" He joked with her. If he wanted to truly kidnap her, he would have done so already.

A while passed by, but they finally reached their destination. Erik parked the car and got out then went to help Natale out of the car. "Where are we?" Natale looked around and noticed that they were by a park. The park was lit up beautifully with pink, red, and white lights.

Instead of answering her question, Erik took her hand and lead her through the park. The lights acted like a guide, directing them to the middle of the park. In the middle of the park sat a large lit up fountain. There were candles floating in the water of the fountain along with rose petals.

"You certainly went all out." Natale commented with a smile on her face. Her cheeks and nose were a shade of pink from the exposure to the cold.

Erik and Natale stopped in front of the fountain, and he turned to face her. He took both of her hands into his larger ones. "I wanted to do something special." He commented while looking into her eyes. "And I wanted to ask you something." He added on.

"Please, don't tell me you are about to propose." Natale said bluntly.

Erik smiled and shook his head. "Nothing like that."

"Good. You may continue."

"Thank you, your highness." He teased, but then his expression changed to a serious one. "You know where we stand in society. We are mutants. Society and the government hate us because they don't understand us. Xavier doesn't understand this, and that is why we had to go our separate ways." He took a pause then continued, "You have forsaken some of your closest friends to come with me. You are one of the most intelligent beings on this planet. I couldn't have asked for a better 'partner in crime'." He smiled and started to speed things up because it was obvious Natale wasn't fond of being outside in the cold. "What I wanted to ask you... will you stand by me no matter how hard things get?"

Natale started shivering a bit. "You were right when you said this wasn't a proposal. You are basically stating vows right now."

Erik shook his head. "It's for a different reason though. Will you stand with me? I can't see the future, but anyone can tell that it isn't going to be easy for our kind. With you by my side, I know things will work to our advantage." He smiled. "You are one of the most stubborn and intelligent women I have ever met, and other don't understand how valuable those qualities are."

Natale's teeth started to chatter a bit, but she nodded. "You are reckless and ruthless at times. You don't think when you should, and by yourself, you wouldn't stand a chance up against Xavier's little army of mutants." She stated coldly. "Which is why, I will need to stay with you so that you don't get yourself killed." She took a deep breath and nodded again. "Yes, I will stand by you no matter how hard things get, but if you try to get in between my mother and I, or in between Celeste and I, I will not hesitate to leave you." Her gaze was as cold as the night air, but her words were sincere.

Erik smiled. "I wouldn't dream of it." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it to reveal a customized ring. "Rings have many different meanings to them. Mostly, they stand for promises. Promises to stay pure, or promises to another person. This one..." He removed it from the box. "This one is remind both you and I of this day and this moment. The future will bring hardships, but for this moment we are together here. No danger. No worrying. This ring is to remind us that there will come a day that the same peace that is felt now, will be felt again." He then took Natale's hand and slipped the ring on her finger. "This ring is to remind of of the promise that we made that no matter where we are, we will be standing together." He smiled and pulled her into his embrace, mostly because she was starting to turn blue from the cold.

Natale snuggled into him to gain some warmth back to her body. "No matter where you go, I will be next to you. But not because of this promise, but because you need me." She held the hand with the ring close to her chest. "You get arrogant very easily. When you see this ring, I want you to remember that you aren't invincible. You depend on someone, and someone depends on you."

Erik nodded and hugged her closely. "Never take that ring off or else we will have a problem." He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"Can we go home now? I'm freezing." Natale pleaded while shivering.

Erik held her close and lead her back to the car. Hardships were bound to come their way, but no matter what or how things may seem, neither of them will forget this day anytime soon.

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**NATA, YOU BETTER LIKE THIS ONESHOT! I'm sorry I'm late updating this on Valentine's day in your timezone! Almost 3,000 words. Give me a little break. I was having an internal war while writing this because I wasn't in a writing mood because I had so much to write. TT TT I'm sorry. But here it is. I hope you like it. **

**And for anyone else that read this. Yeah... let me know what you think. **

**K bye~!**


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